Amazon Textbook Support

Back to school: Successful Order Fulfillment 101

The busy back-to-school season isn't far away! Here are some best practices for timely and accurate order fulfillment:

• Keep up with increased orders by checking the Manage Orders section of your Seller Account daily.
• Students need their books and supplies fast!  Avoid listing items that you can't ship right away, and update your inventory daily if possible to avoid cancelled orders.
• Offer expedited shipping, and remember to check the shipping speed requested for each order.
• Keep buyers informed about their orders. This is easy with Charge When Ship. Simply ship your orders on time and confirm shipment promptly through your Amazon seller account - buyers can track orders in their account.  Learn more about Charge When Ship.
• Provide tracking information. It's not required, but based on buyer feedback, we highly recommend using shipping method that supports tracking. You can enter the tracking info when you confirm shipment of an order. Amazon provides all of the shipping information to the buyer in their Amazon.com account as well as in e-mail.

Good fulfillment practices go a long way to e satisfaction for buyers and good performance ratings for you!

Returns, A-to-z Guarantee Claims and Chargebacks

For most sellers, A-to-z Guarantee claims and chargebacks are a rare occurrence. However, when they do occur, be sure to take action to resolve them promptly. You may also occasionally need to make refunds, accept a return, or cancel an order.

Here are some examples of when you may need to refund, accept returns, or cancel orders:

• You can't fulfill an order or part of an order
• The customer doesn't receive your order
• The customer returns an item
• The customer files a credit card chargeback or an A-to-z Guarantee Claim
• The customer requests you cancel an order
• The buyer is unable to receive the order at the address provided

It's a good idea to check your seller account daily so you can proactively take action on any order issues.

For lots of information on returns, refunds, cancelling orders, A-to-z Guarantee claims and chargebacks, see our Help pages, which are available to you 24 hours a day.

Common post-order problems -- and solutions

The Fall back-to-school textbook selling season may be winding down, but sellers on Amazon often get orders for books throughout the year. Let's look at two common post-order fulfillment issues you may experience and how you might handle them.

1. The buyer hasn't received the item they ordered. 

Buyers might contact you by e-mail to check on the shipment status of their order. How you respond will depend on when you shipped the order, what shipping method you used, and the estimated delivery date that was provided to the buyer at the time they placed the order.

In many cases, the shipment is not late but may not have arrived as early as the buyer hoped. You may need to politely explain the delivery timeframes to the buyer. Read our seller Help page about Delivery Expectations, and the buyer Help page about Marketplace Shipping Times.

For a "late" item that may be lost, you could engage your carrier for assistance in locating the package and moving it along.

Occasionally, a buyer receives an empty box in the mail. When that happens, you may want to contact the shipper to report the issue and ask about the options available.

Ultimately, once the outside delivery date has passed and the buyer still hasn't received their order, the best solution is to refund the order. Compensating buyers for lost shipments is simply a cost of doing business.

If the buyer receives the item later and e-mails you to let you know, you can ask them to contact Amazon directly to authorize repayment to you. Also, you may be able to recover your costs if you purchased insurance originally.

2. The buyer wants to return the item they ordered.

The buyer received the item, but doesn't want to keep it. The issues here are pretty straightforward: is it fair to return the item, how should it be returned, who will pay for the return, and what kind of refund should the buyer receive.

Here are the basics about returns:

• You have to accept returns within the guidelines spelled out in the Marketplace Returns Policy, even if the item was exactly as described and the buyer simply no longer wants it.
• Returns of new items are different from returns of damaged/defective/materially different items.
• Buyer returns should be postmarked within 30 days of the original shipment sent by the seller.
• Returns should be posted to the address included on the outside of each package. It's a good idea to also include your return address inside the package and to confirm it with the buyer before a return is shipped.
• When there is nothing wrong with an item, buyers should cover the cost of return shipping.
• When the item is damaged or defective, or when it is materially different than the item described on the product detail page, you should cover the costs of return shipping. You can do this by issuing a concession to the buyer in advance of the return.
• You can charge a restocking fee (up to 20%) for returned items that are not damaged, defective or materially different. These fees are meant to cover the extra handling costs to take the item back into inventory and relist it for sale.

Learn more about Handling Orders.

 

Oops! Handling buyer order mistakes

It happens occasionally -- buyers sometimes make mistakes when they order from you on Amazon. For example, they may accidentally order the wrong book, not realize until later that they should have selected expedited shipping, or select the wrong shipping address in their Amazon buyer account.

When a buyer makes a mistake, here are some common requests they might make and what you can do.

"Oops, I ordered the wrong book. I would like to cancel my order."

You can cancel at the buyer's request IF the order hasn't been shipped yet; see these instructions.

If you've shipped the book, you cannot cancel the order. There's not much you can do except to ask the buyer to return the book for a refund. (It's always best to wait until you have the item in hand again before you make the refund.)

"Can I upgrade the shipping for the order so I can get it faster?" 

If you haven't shipped the book yet, it's up to you if you want to upgrade the shipping after the order has been placed. You are not obligated to provide a shipping service (i.e., domestic expedited, etc.) that a buyer has not paid for at the time they placed the order, and you can't invoice them for the extra postage later. If you decide NOT to upgrade the shipping, explain why in a courteous and professional manner.

If you have already shipped the book, you can't speed up the shipment. Provide the buyer with information about the shipping method you used (based on the service they paid for at the time they placed the order), and give them a realistic time-frame for delivery. Here's the information Amazon provides to buyers about delivery expectations:  Marketplace Shipping Times.

"Can you ship my order to this other address, even though it is different than the one you received from Amazon for the order?"

At the time they place their order, buyers need to make sure they have entered and selected the correct shipping address in their Amazon account. The terms of sale are final once the buyer clicks the "Place Your Order" button. Amazon policy requires sellers to ship only to the address provided in their Seller Account by Amazon.

If the buyer cannot receive the order at the address they provided originally, cancel the order and ask them to place a new one with the correct address.

Part 3 of our New Seller Textbook Webinar Series is Now Available!

If you missed the third installment of our New Textbook Seller Webinar series today, you'll be glad to know the recording is now available online!

In Part 3: Providing Great Customer Service, we outline our best practices for staisfying textbook buyers on Amazon.com. We also respond to a number of questions from sellers who attended the session. If you have additional questions, please feel free to use the Comments section of this post.

We'd like to encourage you to check out the following Help pages that contain important information related to this topic:

Textbook Season Best Practices - This page contains tips for handling buyer concerns about orders and can help you have a profitable textbook season.

Buyer-Seller Messaging Service - This page and the related FAQ provide information on how to use our new messaging service to stay in touch with buyers.

Get Good Feedback With Customer Service - This video features Seller Support Associates, who address the question of why customer feedback is important and offer tips on how to handle various issues that may arise with textbook buyers.

We hope to see you in our final New Textbook Seller Webinar this summer!

About Returns, Claims & Chargebacks

Accepting Returns

It happens to the best of sellers: the buyer has received the item you shipped but doesn't want to keep it. If you sell on Amazon, you must accept returns within the guidelines spelled out in the Marketplace Returns Policy, even if you described the item exactly and the buyer just doesn’t want it.  

When there is nothing wrong with an item, the buyer should send the item back to you and pay for the return shipping.  Upon receipt, you should issue a refund to the buyer immediately. Learn how to Issue a Refund.

When the item is damaged or defective, or when it is materially different than the item described on the product detail page, sellers should pay return shipping.  You can reimburse the buyer for return shipping in advance or upon your receipt of the returned item.  Learn how to Issue Concessions.

You can charge a restocking fee (up to 20%) for returned items that are not damaged, defective or materially different. This fee is meant to cover the extra handling costs to take the item back into inventory and relist it for sale.

Remember that as the seller, you are responsible for managing the returns process. Failure to manage the return may result in a debit to your Marketplace Payments account if Amazon refunds the buyer pursuant to an A-to-z Guarantee claim, even if the item is not returned to you. You may also be held responsible if no response is received from you on an A-to-z Guarantee claim, or for declining to handle a return request that falls within required return policies.

Claims & Chargebacks

The majority of customers never need to use A-to-z Guarantee reimbursement program, but for those who do, the guarantee claim helps give customers a greater sense of trust and confidence in shopping from sellers at Amazon.com.

The Amazon.com A-to-z Guarantee covers situations in which the buyer purchased an item from a seller (via Marketplace Payments by Amazon) but never received it; or the buyer received the item but it was materially different than expected and depicted in the seller's description; or the buyer has returned, or wants to return, an item and the seller will not respond to their inquiries.

Let’s talk a moment about when an item is considered "materially different.”  If a seller has clearly misrepresented the condition or details of an item in a way that affects its value or utility, it is "materially different" and that seller should be willing to offer a refund or exchange. If the seller does not offer a refund or exchange, the buyer is eligible for our A-to-z Guarantee.

When submitting an A-to-z Guarantee claim with the reason "materially different," the buyer will need to select one of the following reasons and explain how it applies to the item in question:

    * Wrong version or edition
    * Item condition or details not as described
    * Wrong item
    * Missing parts or components
    * Defective item
    * Damaged item

It's in your best interest to respond to claims promptly. The A-to-z Guarantee Claims page in your Seller Account provides an easy reference to track and respond to A-to-z Guarantee claims.

The main difference between a claim and a chargeback is that with the A-to-z Guarantee program, the customer is dealing directly with Amazon.com through Marketplace Payments by Amazon instead of their credit card company. When a customer contacts their credit card company outside of Amazon.com when they have a problem with a transaction, the customer submits a chargeback request.

Lots more information is available 24 hours a day in the Seller Help pages:

Handling Orders FAQ
Refunds Returns and Cancellations
A-to-z Guarantee: Frequently Asked Questions
Chargeback FAQ

Manage your textbook orders effectively

The first two weeks in January are the peak selling times for the Winter/Spring Textbook Season on Amazon.com. Order volumes can increase rapidly during this time.

To manage your orders effectively, use the tools in your Selling Account and follow these best practices:

Check your Seller Account daily 

• Don't rely solely on "Sold, ship now" e-mails to let you know you have new orders.
• Keep up with your orders by checking the Manage Orders tool in your Seller Account every day. The Manage Orders tool provides up-to-the minute views of orders.
• If you have a Pro Merchant subscription, download Unfulfilled Orders Reports regularly to stay on top of order fulfillment.

Ship orders quickly

• Get in the habit of shipping your orders right away. Students need their books fast!
• Consider offering expedited shipping. Over 25% of textbook buyers request expedited shipping last year. Remember to check the shipping speed requested for each order.
• Orders may arrive sooner if you use the nine-digit ZIP Code associated with the buyer's shipping address. You can find the extra four digits for any U.S. shipping address at www.usps.com.

Package orders carefully

• Prepare a professional, clean package. Wipe away dust or debris that may have collected on the item while in storage. Use new shipping/packing materials. Seal all shipments tightly.
• Include a packing slip in the package. You can print one from the Manage Orders page.
• Use the complete shipping address. You can cut an address label from your printed packing slip and attach it to the package.
• Use a complete return address, typewritten or printed in a neat and legible manner, on all packages.

Always remember to confirm shipment!

• Ship orders within two business days after Amazon makes the order available to you.
• Confirm shipment promptly through your Seller Account.
• Provide tracking information when available. Once you’ve confirmed a shipment we display the shipping information in the buyer's Amazon.com account, and we also send the buyer an e-mail notification with all of the shipping information.
• Keep buyers informed about their orders. Students are often anxious about their books arriving on time, and may contact you frequently to ask where an order is.

Process order cancellations promptly

• Sellers should update inventory daily and make sure to have sufficient inventory on hand to immediately fulfill all orders. However, occasionally it's appropriate to cancel an order: 1) when you can't ship an item within 2 business days, or 2) when a customer asks you to cancel the order.
• In the rare case that you cannot ship an order on time, be sure to cancel it right away. Cancelling an order promptly will give the buyer more time to find the book elsewhere before class starts.
• Keep in mind that buyers can leave feedback on cancelled orders. Customers who receive prompt notice of an order cancellation are less likely to leave negative customer feedback.

Handle returns and refunds professionally

• All Amazon.com sellers must accept returns even if the order was fulfilled correctly. Impress buyers by handling returns smoothly.
• When you receive the returned item, immediately issue the appropriate refund. You can make refunds through the Manage Orders tool.
• When you provide good customer service by handling returns smoothly and refunding promptly, buyers are less likely to leave negative feedback.

Good fulfillment practices go a long way to promote satisfaction for buyers and good performance ratings for you!

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Fulfillment by Amazon: You sell it, we ship it!

Did you know that you can simplify order fulfillment by sending your new and used textbooks to Amazon? With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you store your products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. FBA orders are eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping & Amazon Prime, which can mean savings for students and a competitive edge for you.

You can add Fulfillment by Amazon to your existing seller account and get started today! For more information, click here:

Textbook sellers, be sure to check out the FBA EasySell option.

Part III: Handling Post-Order Problems - Returns

In our final look at post-order problems, we'll start with the good news: the buyer has received the shipment! Unfortunately, that's not always the end of the story.

The buyer wants to return the item they ordered.

Given other issues that may arise with your orders, returns are pretty straightforward. The buyer has the item you shipped but doesn't want to keep it.

The issues then are: is it fair to return it, how should it be returned, who will pay for the return, and what kind of refund should the buyer receive.

These issues are dealt with in our Marketplace Returns Policy.

Here are the basics:

• You have to accept returns within the guidelines spelled out in the policy, even if the item was exactly as described and the buyer simply no longer wants it.
• Returns of new items are different from returns of damaged/defective/materially different items.
• Buyer returns should be postmarked within 30 days of the original shipment sent by the seller.
• Returns should be posted to the address included on the outside of each package. It's a good idea to also include your return address inside the package and to confirm it with the buyer before a return is shipped.
• In cases where there is nothing wrong with an item, buyers should cover the cost of return shipping.
• In cases where an item is damaged or defective, or when it is materially different than the item described on the product detail page, sellers should cover the costs of return shipping. You can do this by issuing a concession to the buyer in advance of the return.
• Sellers can charge restocking fees (up to 20%) for returned items that are not damaged, defective or materially different. These fees are meant to cover the extra handling costs to take the item back into inventory and relist it for sale.

If you have further questions about how to deal with order issues, please see our Handling Orders FAQ.

Part II: Handling Post-Order Problems

Continuing from our last post, we'll look a little further down the order fulfillment timeline to another common post-order problem:

The buyer hasn't received the item they ordered.

As you might expect, textbook buyers are often anxious to receive their orders and will contact you by e-mail to check on the shipment status. How you respond will depend on when you shipped the order, what shipping method you used, and the estimated delivery date that was provided to the buyer at the time they placed the order.

In many cases, the shipment isn't late but may not have arrived as early as the buyer hoped. It's possible that the package didn't arrive at the earliest estimated date. Amazon gives buyer an estimated delivery range for Marketplace shipping. For example, we tell buyers that a book sent using standard shipping may take 4-14 business days to arrive.

In the case of "slow" packages, you will often need to politely explain the delivery timeframes when buyers ask, "Where's my order?" Here the Seller Help page where we post Delivery Expectations. Here's the page for buyers: Marketplace Shipping Times.

In rare cases, a shipment may be lost or delayed in transit. Although you may feel you can't do much once you've put a package in the hands of your shipping carrier, keep in mind that you are responsible for the order from the time you receive shipping information in your account until the buyer receives the item they paid for.

In the case of a "lost" item arriving in an empty box, you should contact the shipper to report the issue and ask about the options available to you. For a "late" item that may be lost, you may want to engage your carrier for assistance in locating the package and moving it along.

But if the outside delivery date has passed, the best solution is to refund the buyer. Compensating buyers for lost shipments is simply a cost of doing business. If the buyer does receive the item later and e-mails you to let you know everything worked out, you may ask the buyer to contact Amazon directly to authorize repayment.

For an item that never arrives and is truly lost, you may be still able to recover your costs if you purchased insurance originally. You will need to determine your own level of acceptable loss when deciding to insure packages.

We'll return for a final installment next week. In the meantime, you can find more information in our Handling Orders FAQ.

How to Handle Post-Order Problems

We've seen a number of questions from sellers recently asking how to handle problematic order issues. In this three-part series, we'll look at some of the most common things that might go wrong with an order and the best ways to handle them. You'll find more information in our Handling Orders FAQ.

1.  The buyer requests a change after the order is completed.

Buyers do make mistakes with their orders. What you can do about it depends on the nature of the mistake and how quickly the buyer contacts you. Here are the most common things buyers may ask you to do to fix an order.

• Cancel the order.  Buyers only have a 30-minute window to cancel their own orders. You can cancel at the buyer's request if the order hasn't been shipped yet. If you use Charge When Ship, see these instructions. If you haven't enabled your account for Charge When Ship yet, you will need to refund the order using these instructions.
  
  
• Upgrade the shipping for the order. This issue is a bit more difficult. Keep in mind that buyers are presented with shipping options on the offer listing page and their final order review screen gives them an estimated delivery date. Sellers aren't obligated to provide a service that a buyer hasn't paid for or to accept promises of future reimbursement from buyers (sellers can't invoice buyers for extra costs). It's up to you to decide whether you will upgrade shipping. If you decide not to do so, explain why in a courteous and professional manner.
  
  
• Ship the order to a different address. The terms of sale are final once the buyer clicks the "Place Your Order" button on the Amazon.com website. Buyers can't change the shipping address on Marketplace orders and neither can sellers. In fact, Amazon policy requires sellers to ship only to the address provided in their Seller Account. If the buyer can't receive the order at the address they provided originally, you should cancel the order (see the first bullet point for instructions). The buyer can then return to the website to place a new order using the correct address.

2.  The buyer requests a change after the order has been shipped.

A buyer may not realize that they made a mistake with an order until after you've shipped it. Once the item is in transit, there's not much you can do as a seller except to ask the buyer to wait. 

• You can't cancel the order. If the buyer no longer wants the item, ask them to return it for a refund. It's always best to wait until you have the item in hand again before you return funds to the buyer.
  
  
• You can't speed up the shipment. Provide the buyer with information about the shipping method you used (based on the service they paid for), give them a realistic timeframe for delivery, and ask them to be patient. Here's the information Amazon provides to buyers about delivery expectations:  Marketplace Shipping Times.
  
  
• You can't change the shipping address (but you wouldn't anyway, right?). If the buyer states that they won't receive the package at the address they provided, it may still be possible for them to get the package re-routed if they know the recipients. Undeliverable packages should be routed back to you and you can then refund the buyer. Since there will be extra routing steps, the best course here is to ask the buyer to be patient.

**Look for our next installment in a few days, when we'll look at late and lost orders.